Social Security set up as Ponzi scheme

Re "Why Democrats must get smarter on entitlements," March 3 Perspective article:

Jonathan Alter's article complains about the need to reform Social Security and Medicare due to the looming deficits in these programs. However, he ignores the cause of the problem: how the government handles the funds.

When Social Security was enacted in the 1930s, the actuarial tables showed that no one would live beyond 65, so the age for retirement was set at 65.

The cynical assumption was the funds paid into Social Security would never be paid out, so Congress had another goody bag to play with. Medical science made changes in those assumptions, but Congress never changed its habits.

Social Security funds go into the general funds and are accounted for, but actually spent on items having nothing to do with Social Security. Even today, Medicare and Social Security operate on the same basis.

Congress has created a Ponzi scheme where we contributed in the past and now have to contribute to pay for the money that has been diverted. If we started today with creating separate trustee accounts with seclusion of the funds, much of the problem would cease to exist.

Erik Nicolaysen

Chappaqua

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Social Security set up as Ponzi scheme

Re 'Why Democrats must get smarter on entitlements,' March 3 Perspective article:

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